Raventree Hall
by ThornyRose450
Summary: A story set in the Game of Thrones world, from the perspective of Aline, a servant who is the illegitimate child of a noble and works at Raventree hall, the home of house Blackwood.
1. Chapter 1

Aline sighed as she tried to peer through the misted glass panes of the window. It was her nameday, but no one knew. The reason why was quite simple: her last name was Rivers. So she was resigned to cleaning the rooms of Raventree Hall, the home of the noble house Blackwood.

Her mother used to be a maid for the noble family, but when she died she refused to tell her who her father was. This left many confused, for opposed to many noble families in the Riverlands, Aline had neither auburn hair nor blue eyes. She had her grey eyes from her mother, but there was no explanation as to where she had obtained her thick black curly hair, which she kept tied back or under a cap, out of sight. However, everyone assumed that she must be the bastard child of one of the nobles from elsewhere in the Riverlands. Nyla, one of the other servants called her "Bracken" because she claimed she knew that Aline was the offspring of a noble from house Bracken, who were involved in a feud with house Blackwood.

But to be honest, she didn't know who she was.

But then again, she didn't care, so long as it didn't get in her way.

She had only just finished scrubbing the window when Nyla came bursting in through the doors, a look of horror on her face.

"Bracken! There's some men from King's Landing, they want to talk to you!"

Aline looked up from her work. What did they want? She'd never even been to King's Landing.

"Who is it? Did they say?"

Before Nyla could reply, the doors opened once more. There was a small group of armour-clad men who had scowls on their faces. The smallest one seemed to be complaining to the man who seemed to be the leader of the group, who wielded his sword menacingly.

"I can't believe we've come all the way to the bloody Riverlands just to get one baseborn. We're above this!" He stopped and looked at Aline.

"Well, that was easy enough, I guess, I mean she looks just like the rest of them. Shame, this one's a pretty little thing." He laughed at that, showing his sharp little teeth.

Aline slowly edged back, thanking both the old gods and the new that she was wearing her comfortable old boots, which she could move in easily.

"What do you want with me? I don't know who you're looking for, but I'm not them!"

Her eyes darted around the room for an exit. She could only stall them for so long, and she didn't want to even think of the fate that would befall her should she stay. The men had begun to slowly move around the room, and she realised with a start that all of the possible exits were blocked. No. No. No! She couldn't just do nothing. Wait. The window! Of course! Then her heart sank as she realised that they were several floors up. Just her bloody luck.

The oldest one spoke, his deep baritone voice echoing around the hall.

"We're under strict orders to find any of the Baratheon king's bastards. And dispose of them."

He paused, realising that Nyla was still there.

"Move, and maybe I won't slit your throat. Or maybe I will, I have very little patience."

Nyla stood frozen for a few seconds, then ran off.

Aline continued walking backwards so that her back was facing the window. She fumbled with the latch, leaning backwards so that they wouldn't see. There! Done!

She slowly opened the window, and watched as the leader's eyes widened.

And then she fell through the air, dark hair and skirts billowing out beneath her, before she sank into the murky depths of the moat.


	2. Chapter 2

Amongst the silt and weeds at the bottom of the moat, Aline struggled to swim to the surface. Her waterlogged clothes were heavy, and weighed her down as she frantically kicked her legs. Slowly the edges of her vision began to fade into darkness. She couldn't die, not yet. There was so much that she wanted to do with her life. But now wasn't the time for feeling sorry for herself. With one final push, she reached the surface, and dragged herself onto land.

Her body hurt all over, she was sopping wet and she didn't even want to think of what else might have been in the foul moat. Aline lay on the ground for a few moments, catching her breath.

It was then that she heard the soft patter of footsteps. She looked up, only to see the stable boy looking on in horror.

"What, have you never seen someone fall from a tower into a moat after being chased by strangers who want to kill them before?"

From his reaction, which was to sprint away back towards the castle, probably not. Aline dragged herself to her feet, only to find that there was a sharp pain in her side that made her scream out in pain. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it! By now the men were probably check to make sure that she'd drowned, and she did not want to be anywhere near them when they found out that she'd lived. Slowly, Aline lurched away from the castle, towards the forest. They'd probably arrived by horse, so they'd be able to catch up with her easily. Her only hope was to hide from them.

Several tortuous hours later, Aline finally found herself in the middle of nowhere and realised that she was lost. Very lost. She'd barely ever left the castle, and the one time she had, she was stuck in a carriage acting temporarily as Lady Bethany's personal maid. At one point in her journey, she'd seen an unkindness of ravens heading in the direction that she'd come from, presumably to roost in the great weirwood of that was the namesake of Raventree Hall.

So where was she? She prayed inwardly to the gods that she would have some clue. No such luck. Well, it was worth a try anyway. As a child, she'd sat in front of the heart tree in the godswood whenever she wasn't working and wished that she would find out who her father was. She'd never been answered, but she was faithful to the old gods, as was everyone close to House Blackwood.

Aline continued trudging through the thick layers of leaves that blanketed the ground. She was exhausted, and all she wanted was to collapse into bed, but she willed herself to put one foot in front of the other. The sun had fallen some time ago, and she was beginning to shiver with the cold. Her wet clothes probably weren't helping either, she supposed. Then, up ahead she noticed that the trees had begun to thin out and that she was approaching a clearing. In the centre of the clearing, she found a small house. Clearly, there was no one home, and it had been that way for a while. There was cracks and plants running up the walls, part of the door had begun to rot away, and a section of the roof had collapsed in on itself. On one hand, it didn't look as though it was particularly safe. On the other hand, she was cold and exhausted, and the walls, however dilapidated might provide some brief respite from the harsh winds. Easy decision. Aline sank into a pile of straw that was in the corner of the house, relieved that it looked far more sturdy than it had from the outside. She drew her arms around her and fell into a deep sleep.

"Who's this then?"

Aline woke up with a start. There was a young woman standing in front of her, clad in armour and wearing a forest green cloak. Behind her stood a man with a bow, arrow aimed at Aline. The sunlight streamed in behind them, blinding her.

"I'm called Aline. What do you want? Just please leave me alone, I don't want any trouble!"

The woman gave a signal, and he man lowered his bow and smiled awkwardly.

"Ah, sorry! You know, you can never be too careful in these times…"

He stopped, looking as though he was unsure of what to say. The woman sighed, and addressed Aline, who was ready to dart out the door as soon as she saw a chance.

"Look, we're not going to give you any trouble, in fact, we're trying to help you out here. We're part of a group, one which is invested in looking after the common folk, such as yourself. No offence, of course! But you aren't exactly a warrior, by the looks of it. Unless of course, you want to join our cause and take up arms? We are looking for new recruits…"

Aline wasn't sure if she wanted to become a member of some suspicious sounding group, but she did know that she was hungry and in a hell of a lot of pain. Maybe if she agreed to go with them, then left once she found food and healing supplies?

"I will go with you in that case. If you could tell me about your… group?"

The woman grinned, and extended a hand, which Aline gratefully accepted.

"Well, for starters, my name's Meg, and this idiot over here is Anguy. Welcome to the Brotherhood without Banners, Aline"


End file.
